Posh looking to distract themselves from dismal league campaign with marquee FA Cup tie against Manchester City

Peterborough United are quite literally at rock bottom.

The Posh are sat at the foot of the Championship table after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at home to Hull City. Just six days earlier, the club had axed manager Darren Ferguson, replacing him with former Tigers boss Grant McCann. While the Northern Irishman can’t be expected to transform his side overnight, he’ll have hoped for a better start to his second spell in charge of the club.

The odds of survival are looking slimmer every passing day. The teams above Peterborough are starting to improve their form, with Derby County overcoming a 21-point deduction to climb above the Posh in the table, while Barnsley have similarly shown signs of life with three wins in their last four. They remain eight points off Reading in 21st place, with a game in hand on both the Royals and the Rams.

But their abysmal goal difference could end up being a deciding factor in their season. Even if McCann’s men miraculously cut the gap on the teams above them, their -42 goal difference is much worse than everyone else in the league and could set them apart from the likes of Reading, Barnsley and Derby.

In short, Peterborough’s long-term outlook is rather bleak, and a return to League One feels all but inevitable at this point. The one saving grace of their campaign, however, has been their performance in the FA Cup. The Posh reached the Fifth Round of the competition for the first time since 1985/86, having entered in the Third Round this season and eliminated League Two outfit Bristol Rovers and fellow Championship side Queens Park Rangers.

Their reward for this achievement? A home tie against Premier League champions Manchester City.

This fixture can be seen in one of two ways. On the one hand, hosting one of the biggest clubs in European football could bring in a huge amount of revenue from ticket sales and TV rights, while also giving the Peterborough players a chance to test themselves against some of the world’s best, offering a welcome distraction from their struggles in the Championship.

On the other hand, it may end up being detrimental to their survival hopes, with another game added to an already congested fixture list and the risk of the Cityzens handing out one of their trademark thrashings in the Posh’s own backyard. With fans already feeling upset about how their season has panned out, this would be another sickening blow in what has been a dour campaign to date.

This will likely hinge on what team Pep Guardiola chooses to play on Tuesday evening, with one of the largest squads in English football at his disposal. The former FC Barcelona boss is known for starting full-strength sides in domestic cup competitions, even against opponents much lower down the football pyramid. However, he has been keen to include his youth players when possible, often bringing them off the bench towards the latter stages of games.

City, like their opponents, have seen off League Two opposition in the Third Round and a Championship side in the Fourth Round, beating Swindon Town and Fulham respectively, both by a 4-1 scoreline. Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, İlkay Gündoğan and Riyad Mahrez all found the back of the net in at least one of those two games, while Kevin De Bruyne and João Cancelo started in both.

This is a fairly strong indication of the type of side that Peterborough will be up against. Guardiola confirmed that he would have a full squad to choose from, with the exception of goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who continues to recover from an ongoing shoulder injury.

The Spaniard added that Oleksandr Zinchenko will start at the Weston Homes Stadium, having made the bench for Saturday’s 1-0 win against Everton at Goodison Park despite being visibly (and understandably) upset due to the ongoing invasion of his homeland, Ukraine. Jesus and £100 million summer arrival Jack Grealish are also expected to return to the lineup against the Posh according to the Manchester Evening News.

This will be a daunting prospect for McCann and his players, with Man City likely to be even more desperate for domestic cup success after relinquishing their four-year grasp on the Carabao Cup following Liverpool’s penalty shootout win against Chelsea in Sunday’s final. Guardiola’s men still have a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League table and look all but certain to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, making a treble-winning season a genuine possibility.

With the odds of Peterborough winning the tie are listed as 10/1 with William Hill, even remaining competitive against the Cityzens would be a huge improvement on the string of lacklustre performances they’ve shown in recent weeks. But with replays scrapped from the Third Round onwards this season, the prospect of a trip to the Etihad Stadium has been ruled out and the Posh may fancy their chances of sitting deep and trying to take the match to extra time and penalties.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. McCann has already conceded that he expects Man City to have the lion’s share of possession, and preventing the Sky Blues from finding the back of the net will be a monumental task for his side. After all, Man City have scored a whopping 64 goals in just 27 Premier League games this season and have the best defensive record in the division, while the Posh have the tied worst attack in the Championship and the second worst defence.

But with a sold-out Weston Homes Stadium to look forward to, Peterborough can use Tuesday’s cup match to distract themselves from what has otherwise been a miserable campaign. While using it to springboard their bid for survival is probably too far fetched, it should prove to be a memorable night for the home fans and the players, regardless of the result.

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